When we put this pair of Fran Roxas-built V-16 Cadillacs on the cover of the June 2012 issue of Hemmings Classic Car, it began a fun and surprising chain of events. While they’re not unknown cars, they’ve kept a low profile for decades in a private collection. Their gestation is a complicated story, but they were created after a group of designers including Strother MacMinn saw drawings in period Fleetwood catalogs, and built the two cars that never were. They emerged for RM’s Milhous Collection auction last winter, then once again got tucked away.

That’s why they were such a surprise when Clay Dean saw his copy of HCC. Clay is a GM employee… well, that’s perhaps too modest. He’s just been promoted to GM Director of Global Advanced Design, but he spent five years before that as Cadillac Design Director. He, too, had seen the drawings, and was also inspired to build a car. Only his was not a recreation; it was a concept car.

The Ciel phaeton is a knockout and debuted at Pebble Beach last year. Jay Leno’s site has a video of him and Ed Welburn examining it. But until the Cadillac design department saw our cover, they had no idea Roxas and company had actually built cars from the Fleetwood drawings. Needless to say they were excited, and they got GM VP of Global Design Welburn–a genuine car guy–interested, too. They were so excited they thought they’d show the Ciel all over again, but this time in a context which showed its connection to the Fleetwood designs of the Thirties, “The Era of Dramatic Presence,” as Clay called it. Their idea was to build two mock-up design studios, one with the Roxas V-16s, and one with the Ciel, and tie them together thematically. The only problem was, they didn’t know where the V-16s were. So with my name on the story, that’s who they went to.

Speaking of Leno, years ago he called up our editor-in-chief Richard Lentinello to compliment him on a Toronado story; Rich nearly hung up on what he thought was a crank call. I had the same reaction when Clay contacted me: “Get outta here, buddy.” Fortunately, he’s a nice guy, and I was able to help. Fran Roxas can be reclusive, but for some reason he takes my calls, so together we were able to convince the current owner, who for now wishes to remain anonymous, to talk to GM. I think dropping Ed Welburn’s name as backer of the idea may have sealed the deal.

Now all the pieces are in place and the two Fleetwoods and Ciel will be the centerpiece of Cadillac’s display at Pebble Beach next week. Clay and company have located many of the sweeps, templates and drawings used by MacMinn for his designs, and of course have all of their own studies of the Ciel. Their descriptions and teaser images sound incredible, and we can’t wait to see the final result. We provided PDFs of the HCC story for the display, so we hope that will be up, as well.

Hemmings is proud to have been part of making this happen. Cadillac will be making their announcement on Monday, and I’ll include their press here.

Rare, Historic Cadillacs on Display at Pebble Beach

Custom ‘none-of-a-kind’ Fleetwood V-16s from 1930s featured Aug.16-19

2012-08-14

DETROIT – A pair of one-of-a-kind Cadillac Fleetwood V-16s that were available but never ordered by customers during the Great Depression will be among the cars on display at the annual Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in Carmel, Calif., this week.

Cadillac’s exhibit, open to the public Aug. 16-19 at Peter Hay Hill, features Cadillac’s newest cars, along with the two custom-built Fleetwood Convertibles from 1934 and 1937. Each has a historically significant pedigree.

A 1934 rumbleseat roadster model 5802 and a 1937 Phaeton model 5859 were part of Cadillac’s made-to-order Fleetwood collection, featured in the “build books” that customers used to select options for their cars. All other body styles were built for customers, but these two lavish models went unselected.

Decades later, noted automobile restorer and coachbuilder Fran Roxas built the Phaeton 5859 and Roadster 5802 from scratch, relying only on the original blueprints of Cadillac designer John Hampshire. Both have won best-in-class awards at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.

The two one-of-a-kind models were rarely seen until being profiled in a recent Hemmings Classic Cararticle.

Each recently sold at auction. The Phaeton 5859 sold for $962,500 and the Roadster 5802 for $1,001,000. Both vehicles are powered by Cadillac’s legendary16-cylinder engine. Cadillac designers recently used the original drawings as inspiration for the Ciel Convertible concept car shown for the first time in the Cadillac exhibit at Peter Hay Hill in 2011. It will be on display again this week.

Held annually since 1950, the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance is a premier exhibition of pre- and post-war automobiles and motorcycles, as well as concept cars from manufacturers across the world. In order to be showcased, vehicles must be a well preserved or accurately restored model of the original and offer “historic value” in the form of engineering and design and craftsmanship among other factors from the vehicle’s time period.

“The Cadillac Phaeton 5859 and Roadster 5802 are literally unlike any other vehicle ever built,” said Clay Dean, Cadillac design director. “The Cadillac design team is still inspired by these two vehicles as we dream and conceive of future Cadillac entries.”

Cadillac will also showcase a 1953 LeMans at this year’s event. The LeMans, a relatively small and athletic design, is one of the famed Motorama show cars of the 1950s.

Cadillac has been a leading luxury auto brand since 1902. In recent years, Cadillac has engineered a historic renaissance led by artful engineering and advanced technology. More information on Cadillac can be found at media.cadillac.com.

Fantastic story, Fantastic cars, Stuff like this makes this hobby so exciting and full of history. It brings the cars to life and the people involved a bit of immortality. (Hopefully that doesn’t sound too ‘over the top”).

Interestingly, a Dutch enthusiast and friend currently is building (in Holland) a similar Cadillac V-16 roadster “that never was”. The chassis, motor and transmission all are authentic Cadillac parts; as for the body, it is being built from original Fleetwood photos and drawings. Completion date has not been set but I expect it won’t be before 2014. Expect another “winner”, in the Roxas vein.

Dear Sir, I have kept the issue of Hemmings with these two amazing Fleetwood Cadillac designs and have sent color copies to all of my car guy/girl friends. Both vehicles are the ultimate in creative artistry by the man who built them and the people who funded the project. They are the most impressive and amazing vehicles to be scratch built from vintage drawings in recent memory. This feat in the present economic times has to go down in history as being one of the most impressive accomplishments of the last 50 years. I hope someone makes a model of the Ciel to go along with the West Coast Die Cast version of the Cadillac 16.

Hemmngs hit a home run with this one and should be very proud of their accomplishment and participation in getting the vehicles to PB.

This is the sort of blockbuster exhibit for which Pebble Beach is justly renowned, I can’t wait for Sunday the 19th!
I once had the privilege of having lunch with Strother MacMinn and my meager automotive knowledge was embarrassed in the presence of such automotive erudition. These cars will be automotive porn!

I think that there are enough people out there with enough tremendous, old-school, Rockefeller-Vanderbilt-pre-income-tax-like-wealth, in this country alone, that it seems as if GM could sell a ton of these concepts. The Ciel, Sixteen; not to forget the Converj and the Cien, which might still be my favorite, after the Sixteen. I know the tooling and craftsmanship costs for these types of cars are over the top, but wouldn’t there be some benefit in at least breaking even on these? Just think of the PR value, the cachet, the the the.. ok, I’m not going to talk anyone at Cadillac into doing these concepts..

Cadillac has had some of the best, coolest concepts in the last 10+ years, in my opinion. But, they rarely, if ever, put them into production, unfortunately.

In fact the original show admitted one-offs as well as contemporary cars. It was not until 1955 when Phil Hill’s 1931 Pierce Arrow 41 Le Baron Town Cabriolet won Best In Show that Classics took the top honor.

Kudos to all involved. It’s great to see the appreciation some modern car designers have for historical cars. Also, thanks to the Pebble Beach Concours for showing the sport customs this year including the Kurtis sports car that became the Muntz Jet. Exciting times for the car hobby! Sorry, I can’t attend this year. I live on the right coast ( New Jersey). Spent my money in Prague salivating over the Tatra in their National Technical Museum. The Ceil is a beauty. Shows what passion can do in the design world. Love to see one in two tone. After all the sky is many colors!

Thanks to David and ALL his help with this whole event. It wouldn’t have happened without his support, directions and enthusiasm. Also Sam Pack, the new owner was just so accommodating, a huge Thanks go out to him. . .Fran Roxas was GREAT to speak with and provided wonderful insight , in addition to building those doggone things. . . . and to Steve Nannini who provided the Line drawings from the builds. What a great Display it was . . It really was fantastic to get all three cars together,and to also take a few photos of the three together. We also really appreciate all the great comments about the CIEL . . We’re doing our best, and we’re very proud of it . .stayed tuned for next year’s Pebble Concept. We think you all might like it!